Rejecting the Myth of the “Starving Artist’
There’s nothing romantic about the idea of struggling your way through life.
“But starvation, unfortunately, didn’t improve art. It only hindered it. A man’s soul was rooted in his stomach. A man could write much better after eating a porterhouse steak and drinking a pint of whiskey than he could ever write after eating a nickel candy bar. The myth of the starving artist was a hoax.”
– Charles Bukowski, Factotum (1975)
Over many years our society has created a myth about what it means to be an artist. Perpetuated consciously and subconsciously by artists and non-artists, this myth is based on trading off many things that other people value for the right to be an artist.
For example, the myth tells us that struggle, complexity, and suffering are all necessary components of creativity, and without these key elements an artist will stagnate. The myth tells us that the desire for comfortable lives and financial success will ultimately poison and distort art; that a true artist is concerned only with art and anyone else is a dilettante. The myth tells us that real artists do not discover themselves. Other people do, preferably when the artist is dead!
The myth warns us about selling out, although the majority of artists who are concerned about this issue are not in a position to sell out, nor are they quite sure what it means. The myth also dictates that artists are expected to be flamboyant, provocative, moody, weird, antisocial; or even to suffer from mental illness.
Many of the basic problems of artists trying to enter the art world to sustain a career are created by their feelings of insecurity and helplessness. There is a direct correlation between how artists see themselves and where art-world power is currently centred. For example, the term ‘stable of artists’ is commonly and casually used by both artists and dealers alike. It refers to the artists who are represented by a gallery, but it implies much more, and, unfortunately, as a metaphor, it works well. It suggests that artists are like herds of animals that need to be contained in an environment where their master can control their lives.
‘Starving artist’ is another demeaning and frequently used phrase that contributes to the stereotypical image of how artists are perceived and how they see themselves. The lingo is used in advertising, on websites, in URL titles, and in products, and even as the name of art galleries.
The idea of the ‘starving artist’ is an antiquated notion that leads artists to a mindset that isn’t helpful, to themselves or their careers. There’s nothing romantic about the idea of struggling your way through life and there’s nothing about poverty that equates to better art. Although, for some, being down and out can serve as motivation in picking oneself up and making shit happen. I think it’s time to drop the idea of the ‘starving artist’ and instead focus on the abundance of examples of artists that are carving out successful paths. Is the life of a musician harder than some career paths? Sure. But so is living a life doing things that don’t bring us any sense of joy or meaning.
Maybe we can’t all be wildly successful and filthy rich as artists, or maybe we can. What I know for sure, is that with a little bit of resourcefulness and a lot of ambition, we can all create lives that are fulfilling, stable and creatively rewarding.
